1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and, more particularly, to a communication apparatus capable of displaying a message together with a background picture.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has recently been proposed a radio pager allowing a calling person to send a fixed background picture and desired characters, so that character information to be displayed together with the background picture can be varied. A radio pager with this capability is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese laid-open patent application heisei 8-182049.
Specifically, a calling person intending to send a background picture stored in a radio pager of the type described inputs a free word to be displayed in the preselected area of the background picture. The background picture and free word sent are displayed on a radio pager of the same type belonging to a called person.
As stated above, the conventional radio pager can display a free word message consisting of desired characters together with a background picture. However, it is not practicable with such a radio pager to display a fixed sentence together with the background picture.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the above conventional communication apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a communication apparatus capable of controlling, based on a designated background picture, the format of a fixed sentence to be displayed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a communication apparatus enhancing the free arrangement of a message to be displayed.
In order to achieve the above objects, a communication apparatus of the present invention includes a receiving section for receiving a signal including first information and second information, a first reading section for reading a background picture designated by the first information, a second reading section for reading a fixed sentence message designated by the second information, a controller for controlling, based on the background picture, the format of a display of the fixed sentence message, and a display for displaying the fixed sentence message together with the background picture in the format controlled by the controller. A communication apparatus of the present invention may include a storing section for storing a plurality of formats, at least one of formats is preferably selected according to background picture. It may include first storing section for storing said background picture and second storing section for storing said fixed sentence message. Preferably, the first information and second information include a background picture display command and a fixed sentence command, respectively. The controller should preferably cause, based on the background picture, the fixed sentence message to be displayed in a preselected area. It is preferable that the apparatus further includes a setting section for setting beforehand a preselected number of characters capable of being displayed in the preselected area, and a comparing section for comparing the number of characters constituting the fixed sentence message and the preselected number of characters. In this case, the display means displays, when the number of the fixed sentence message is greater than the preselected number of characters, the fixed sentence message in divided sections together with the background picture. The display should preferably display a single fixed sentence in a single frame. A storage may advantageously store a plurality of background pictures and allow them to be replaced periodically. Preferably, the apparatus further includes a decision means for determining whether or not the signal includes a particular command. When the decision means determines that the signal includes the particular command, the display displays the fixed sentence message in an arrangement designated by the particular command. The particular command may advantageously be at least one of a position command designating the position of the fixed sentence message to be displayed and a font command designating the size of the fixed sentence message to be displayed. The communication apparatus may be implemented as a radio selective calling receiver.
Also, a message displaying method for a communication apparatus of the present invention includes the steps of receiving a signal including first information and second information, reading a background picture designated by the first information, reading a fixed sentence message designated by the second information, controlling the format the fixed sentence message on the basis of the background picture, and displaying the fixed sentence message in the controlled format. The first information and second information should preferably include a background picture display command and a fixed sentence command, respectively. A message displaying method for a communication apparatus of the present invention may include a first storing section for storing said background picture and a second storing section for storing said fixed sentence message. Preferably, the method should further include the steps of setting beforehand a preselected number of characters of the fixed sentence message on the basis of the background picture, comparing the number of characters of the fixed sentence message and the preselected number of characters, and displaying, when the number of characters of the fixed sentence message is greater than the preselected number of characters, the fixed sentence message in divided sections together with the background picture. The method may advantageously include the steps of storing a plurality of background pictures, and displaying the plurality of background pictures while periodically replacing them. Desirably, the method should further include the step of determining whether or not the signal includes a particular command. When the signal includes the particular command, the fixed sentence message is displayed in an arrangement based on the particular command. The particular command may advantageously be at least one of a position command designating the position of a message to be displayed and a font command designating the size of the message to be displayed.
With the above configuration, the present invention is capable of varying the format of the fixed sentence on the basis of the background picture, thereby rendering the fixed sentence readable when displayed and promoting the effective use of the background picture. Moreover, the apparatus allows the calling person to cause a message to be displayed in a desired arrangement on an LCD by inputting a position command and/or a font command at the time of inputting data. The apparatus therefore enhances the free arrangement of a message on the LCD.